“Is Your Food Being Poisoned?”

That’s the question being asked by Chuck Norris.  Yes, THAT Chuck Norris — birther, rightwing conspiracy theorist, columnist for WorldNetDaily and Townhall.com.  I’ve always admired his fitness and martial arts expertise (no, I never watched Walker:  Texas Ranger), but his political views are so far to the Right they’re off the charts.

But like they say, a clock that doesn’t work is right twice a day.  I’m glad more Americans are becoming concerned about the GMO/Frankenfood menace.  We need all the allies we can get, regardless of their views on other issues.

Chuck Norris writes:

“Can food become poisonous? Of course it can if it is infected, tampered with or altered in any way that causes it to become detrimental to its consumer. In fact, that's what we call ‘food poisoning.’  But what about the genetic engineering, tampering or alteration of our food supply? If it causes bodily harm, even over the long haul, could that be considered poisoning?”

He then quotes Dr. George Wald, one of the first scientists to point out the dangers of genetically engineered foods:

“Recombinant DNA technology (genetic engineering) faces our society with problems unprecedented, not only in the history of science, but of life on the Earth. ... Now whole new proteins will be transposed overnight into wholly new associations, with consequences no one can foretell, either for the host organism or their neighbors. ... For going ahead in this direction may not only be unwise but dangerous. Potentially, it could breed new animal and plant diseases, new sources of cancer, novel epidemics.”

Chuck Norris continues with:

“Ask your federal representatives to support the new federal labeling bill, the Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act, which would require the food industry to label all genetically engineered foods and ingredients. In addition, tell your representatives that corn and cotton must not be deregulated, because without strict controls, genetically engineered crops will encroach on non-genetically engineered crops, contaminating them and rendering the organic crops as non-organic.”

He also advises everyone to educate themselves on the dangers of GMO products and learn how to avoid purchasing these products unwittingly.

It’s all excellent advice.  Concern over food safety is certainly creating some strange bedfellows.

I hope Chuck Norris hasn’t alienated his Townhall.com readers.  Check out the comments at the end of the article.  (Be prepared to laugh, scream or kick your computer.)  Most of these commenters are either Monsanto employees regurgitating their corporate soundbites, or they flunked Kindergarten because finger-painting was too complicated.